Ferguson coy over Keane injury

Reports have claimed that the former Irish skipper would be booked into a private medical centre on Wednesday morning for a clean-up operation which would rule him out of action for two to three months.

It is being reported that Keane has known about the potential need for surgery for some time, but waited to help United into the first phase of the Champions League - something they did in style with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Hungarian minnows Zalaegerszeg.

However, when asked whether Keane was due to have the surgery, Ferguson said: "There is no foundation to that at all."

But the Scot did respond to further questioning about whether he may need an operation in the future, by saying: "Who knows? Maybe."

So, claims of surgery this week seem to be premature, but it does look as if Keane will need to go under the knife at some point.

Meanwhile, Ferguson confirmed that the potential ankle injury to midfielder Paul Scholes does not look as bad as first feared.

The England man was stretched off in the second half of United's win over ZTE on Tuesday evening, amid fears he may have seriously damaged his ankle or Achilles tendon.

But Ferguson commented: "The swelling came up straight away, but it does not look too bad and I would think it would be about two weeks."

Scholes will have a scan on Wednesday to diagnose the extent of the injury.